Travel Log: New York City (Part 1)

I hope you had a great weekend!  I flew back into Seattle late last night from a wild weekend in New Orleans to celebrate two dear friends' birthdays, my first time in NOLA.  The city is vibrant, wild, and dirty (everything I expected) and we had a fabulous time eating too much and taking in the sites and people of Bourbon Street.  Today I took an extra vacation day to catch up on sleep, have lunch with one of my best girlfriends, and get my hair done.  I rarely take extra days off like this, and it is so refreshing!

I'm getting behind on posting my travel pictures, so today I have for you some photos from my Memorial Day weekend trip to New York City.  This one was a girls' trip with my Grandma and older sister, and we had such a wonderful time hitting up our favorite spots (Highline Park, Shake Shack, the Met, Grand Central, etc) as well as trying some new restaurants, catching a Broadway show, and just enjoying a weekend in one of my favorite cities.  We arrived in NYC on Saturday evening, and the photos below are our Sunday adventures in the city.

Jacket: "Street-Femme Moto Jacket" in cream, $42.80 at Forever 21 here

Top: Caslon "Shirred V-Neck Tee" (old), available colors $29 at Nordstrom here

Shorts: Banana Republic (no longer available online), similar Caslon "Clean-Front Five-Inch Shorts," available colors $21.25 (on sale!) at Nordstrom here

Sandals: Clarks "Billie Swing" sandal in dark grey, $62 at Zappos here

Crossbody Bag: NYC street vendor (old), similar Call It Spring "Adana Foldover Crossbody Bag" in white, $30 (on sale!) at JCPenney  here

This was my Sunday outfit - shorts, tee, comfy sandals, and a light jacket for the morning.  We always have to visit Grand Central Terminal, and this was me with my morning Starbucks before I spilled coffee on my jacket.  The good thing about fake leather jackets, though, is that it wiped right off!!  Whew!

Grand Central Terminal is always busy, but this year is the Centennial.  See the "1-0-0" in the back?  I had to get a photo with here with my beautiful Grandmother and sister.

We always visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art one day during our NYC visits, because they always have the best rotating exhibits.  This time, it was a fashion exhibit called "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity" which I very much enjoyed.  This exhibit displayed the relationship between fashion and art during the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s when Parisian women were the fashion-forward women of the world.  The Met has suggested pricing for adults/students/seniors, but it is a "pay what you can" museum to make it affordable for everyone.  You could pay them $1, or the suggested price, it doesn't make a difference and I highly encourage everyone to visit.

The rooftop of the Met, always a must stop for the view alone, but there is also a rotating exhibit up here as well.

My sis and I have a Shake Shack tradition - jalapeno corn dogs on holiday weekends!  Shake Shack serves these corn dogs on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day only if I remember correctly.   This was our post-museum stop.

A quick stop in Times Square - my sis and Grandma went to see "Kinky Boots" and loved it!  I had to fly home earlier than they did to get back to work (sigh), but they did say it was fantastic.

NYC is full of amazing murals, and I love to see new ones every time I visit.  This one is absolutely beautiful, modeled after the famous "Kissing Sailor" photo and viewed from Highline Park as we walked toward the Meatpacking District.

Highline Park has been expanding over the last several years, and I love being able to see the new sections when we visit!  The Highline is one of my favorite places in the city, and here we are sitting in one of the newer areas with benches and grass where you can relax for hours and people-watch.

Another view into the Meatpacking District.

After we exited the Highline in the Meatpacking District, my sis picked out a French restaurant called Pastis for lunch.  We shared a carafe of rose and it was a good spot for a reasonably priced lunch.

I leave you with this fantastic photo of the Empire State Building decked out in red, white, and blue for Memorial Day.  Stay tuned for more New York City photos (the best ones of the trip, in my opinion) later this week!

I hope you enjoyed this visual tour of one of my favorite cities, and thank you for reading!